The Next Generation - Book Two: House of Life
by xSkagos
Summary: Sequel to The Next Generation - Book One: Descendants of Olympus. NO NEED TO READ FIRST PART BEFORE THIS. Summary: Kate and her friends are back. More than a year has passed since their last adventure! But suddenly a sheet with Hieroglyphs appears in her room. This means trouble! I guess she'll have to save the world...again! Please review, favorite and follow!
1. Chapter 1

The House of Life

 **Kate I  
** "  
Hey Liam,  
I know it's been more than a year since we contacted each other. More than a year since Sky disappeared and more than a year since Nico…you know. I ended my search for Sky around four weeks ago. I looked for so long but still…no clue. So, I had to give up. Why? Because I have realized that I spent too much time on looking for him than everyday things. I only used to do half of my homework, which lead to stress on school. I always used to think about Sky in the shower, which made me come late to my school. Barely being in school, lead to me failing tests. So, know you know where my mind has been all the time.  
I also couldn't my mind of certain other things for example…Leo. How could he betray us? He was one of the seven, the savior of Olympus and Rome! Nevertheless, I can't get the moment out of my mind when we told Calypso and Diego that Leo is dead.  
Nor the moment at Nico's funeral.  
Why him? I mean, he wasn't _that_ old yet! He deserved a happy retirement. I am so angry! I could have done better! I…I could have used my sword to fight Leo, instead I wasted my time on a stupid vision.

Well, that's not the reason I'm writing this letter. First of all—Happy Birthday! And Merry Christmas! Does it suck to have a birthday on 25th December? I mean, instead of getting gifts two times a year, you only get them once.

Ugh.

I'm getting diverted again. So—the reason I'm writing this letter is because I need your help. You see, as soon as I gave up looking for Sky, I got something… _weird_. Well, let me start from the beginning. I woke up and saw that my bedroom was different. I stepped out of bed seeing, that I had new bedsheet and the bed was clean. I looked to my right, towards my wardrobe and opened it. All my clothes were freshly ironed and folded and sorted into my shelves by color. I looked to my bedside table and saw that my lamp got fixed and all my books were sorted into shelf by title. Then I looked to my desk and saw, that no pens and pencils were scattered across the house. They were set in one coffee mug with a text saying, 'Human bodies are 70% water—Jesus can walk on water—I can walk on bodies—I'M 70% JESUS!'. Everything was so clean and ordered it felt very alien to me.

But then an envelope on the desk caught my eye.

I walked towards it and took a look at it. There was nothing on the envelope. No name, no address, not even _my_ name and address. It just said, _YOU'RE WELCOME_. So, I opened the envelope and inside, there was a folded old, brownish-yellow papyrus. I unfolded it and saw…stuff. There were symbols which would maybe become a word, but I couldn't decipher it. It wasn't English, nor Latin, nor Ancient Greek. It was nothing alike. There were pictures of flags, men sitting on thrones, vases and whole other stuff. I tried to take it out my room to show my dad or google it, but then it started to glow. I didn't want to take any risks, that it might explode, so I kept back on my desk. Then I took my phone out of my pocket and tried to take a photo of it and find information through Google Image Search but as soon as I hit _click_ , my phone display turned black. A few seconds later my phone kind of exploded (so now you at least know, why my WhatsApp wasn't working).

But that was all four weeks ago.

Recently, my Mom came back for Christmas from a 6-week business trip in Los Angeles. She came to my room and I told her that I stopped looking for Sky, my grades are improving and all other stuff, you know. Then my Mom looked at the desk and asked, 'What is this?', while pointing to the folded papyrus. I was surprised, because when my dad or Cooper came home, they never paid attention to it, so I figured they couldn't see it.

My Mom walked up to it asked me again, `What is this?'. I sighed and told her the whole story behind it. Like, I got it 4 weeks ago, normally others don't see it, etc. And when I asked her if she knew what this was or what it could mean, she answered me with just one word,

'Hieroglyphs'

I looked puzzled and my Mom must have seen that, so she gave me the Use-Your-Athena-Approved-Brain-Look. Then my gears started moving. I knew what hieroglyphs were.

'Took you long enough…'

For the record, if you don't know what hieroglyphs are, Liam, then let me explain. Hieroglyphs are the letters of Ancient Egyptian. Yeah, you read right, _Ancient Egyptian_! I took the papyrus and held it in my hand. It felt different. When I first got it, the papyrus felt delicate, as if it would rip into pieces if I dropped it. Or, dangerous-delicate like a bomb. If I touched the papyrus somewhere I shouldn't have, then it would explode.  
But now, it felt like a normal middle-school-essay. I looked at my mom for an explanation.

'Mom, why did I get these? And why can others not see them?'

'I don't know. But I think only we can see them is because we're descendant from Athena'

'But Cooper couldn't see it, too'

'You're right. Maybe because we're females?'

'No idea. But can you read Hieroglyphs? Decipher them?'

My Mom shook her head. 'But I know who could. You see, the Greek Gods are not the only gods'

'Yeah, I know. Uncle Magnus is the son of the Norse god Frey, right?'

'Yes. But there are also Egyptian Gods. _Ancient_ Egyptian'

'Woah'

'I know it sounds weird and shocking, but it's true. We crossed paths with two Egyptian Magicians. Carter and Sadie Kane'

'I think dad told me about that once…'

'He might. Anyway if there's one person, who could help you with this, that would be one of the Kanes.

'Where can I find them?'

'In Brooklyn. You'll find a huge storage hall, and on top of there's a villa. Go to that villa. Once you're in front of the door say, that you're the daughter of the Son of Sobek, Percy Jackson. It is the twenty-first Nome of the House of Life, or as they like to call it, the Brooklyn House'

'Got it'

You see now, Liam? I want somebody to come with me. Since Sky's is gone and you're my best friend, you'll have to come all that way from L.A.

See you soon,  
Kate

 **A/N – What's up FF-Community?! I'M BACK! DA KING OF NEXT GENERATIONS IS BACK! I hope you like this chapter: please review, favorite and follow! So…until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

House of Life

 **Liam II**

'Hey, Liam!', somebody shouted from the distance. 'I am here!'. Liam looked into the direction from where the voice came from and saw Kate. They made eye contact and both of them smiled. They walked towards each other and Kate gave him a hug.

'Hey', Liam said. 'It's good to see you, again'

'Yeah. It's good to see you, too.'

Kate released the hug and looked to her right.

'Cabs are over there. Come on!'

She took Liam's hand and ran towards the cabs. Liam had difficulties to keep up with the suitcase in his hands, but he managed it.

After all, he was Liam Zhang.

They walked in front of the closest cab and knocked on the window. The cab driver turned around and put the window down.

'14th Street, Brooklyn'

'That would be 40 Dollars, Miss'

Kate nodded and told Liam to keep his suitcase in the trunk. He opened it, kept the suitcase inside and stepped into the car.

'Ready to go, Miss?', the driver asked.

'Yes', she said while putting on her seatbelt. 'And can we take the long way through Manhattan? And the Times Square? I want to to show New York to my friend over here'

'Whatever you want, Miss', the driver said before speeding away from the Newark International Airport towards Manhattan.

The starting was actually pretty boring. Plain houses, normal roads. Maybe a few joggers.

But the real deal started when they started to cross the bridge to Manhattan.

Lumps of people squeezing onto a small sidewalk, yellow cabs speeding through the heavy traffic and most importantly, huge skyscrapers proudly rising in the distance. It was quite fascinating, actually. As if Liam had jump into one of those urban phone wallpapers.

But the real highlight was something else.

A few minutes later, they stopped in a traffic jam. Well, in normal cases, it sounds boring. But Liam got lucky. From his side of the window he had the perfect panoramic view of the Empire State Building. It was really majestic. He could see it with his own eyes! The Empire State Building, once the tallest tower in the world and the current gateway to Olympus.

But sadly, the traffic jam released, and the car started driving. The rest of the way was not as fascinating as Manhattan. It was just a normal way home. And then finally around half an hour later, they reached at Kate's house. The driver stopped directly in front of the front porch and said 40 Dollars, Miss. Kate finished two 20 dollars notes out of her wallet and gave it to the driver. They out of the car and Liam again took his suitcase from the boot. They walked up to the front door and Kate ring the Bell. The door immediately opened showing a middle-aged woman with a smile that was half of her age.

'Hello, Liam! Hello, Kate!', the woman said.

'Hello', Liam said. 'I'm guessing it's Mrs. Jackson?'

'Yes, of course. Don't you remember me?', she shook her head. 'Of course, you wouldn't. You were just an infant then'

'Umm…I guess?'

'Come on in!'

* * *

Liam started at the Aquarium in Kate's room. It was really big and so many fishes were in there. She also had a really big room, almost twice as big as Liam's room. Everything was so big and cool. A huge PC, a home theater and even an Apple HomePod. All just in her room. And the Jacksons' house was also really big, new and advanced. They had a giant swimming pool and two Porsches. Then the first thing that came to his mind was,

'Are you rich?'

Kate sighed. 'Yes, you could say that. Well, my Mom is a huge architect…', she said showing a magazine cover with her Mom's face. '…and my dad is the American Olympic swimming team coach'

'Wow'

'I know, right! But my parents don't want themselves to be seen like this. They prefer to be known as the _Heroes of Olympus_ '

'Why?'

Kate laughed. 'Because they never want the gods to forget what they have done for them'

Liam smiled.

'Oh, right! I wanted to show you the papyrus'

She stood up and walked to her desk lifting a piece of old, brown parchment. She walked over to Liam and carefully handed it over to him. It was really light and thin. It got browned from age and small pieces were already torn. The script however, was exactly the way Kate had described it. Figures, shapes and material things were drawn or burnt on this piece of parchment.

'Do you understand anything?'

Liam thought for a while.

'Well, there is a man sitting down pointing to vase. And next to the vase is a crocodile…'

'What does that mean?'

'Well, either that man is trying to warn the vase that a crocodile is coming, or I have no idea how to decipher Hieroglyphs'

Kate laughed. Liam grinned and kept the papyrus back on the desk.

'So…how about I say we'll go tomorrow. After lunch'

'Umm…sure'

 **A/N – Heya guys! Iz me! Sorry that I posted this chapter really (and I mean like REALLY) late. I already finished this chapter 3 weeks ago, but I always forgot to post it! Well anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for the next one!**


	3. Chapter 3

House of Life

 **A/N – Make sure to follow me on** _ **Instagram**_

 **Kate III**

It was freezing cold in the morning of the 27th December. The busses weren't plying because of the holiday season, so they had to walk all the way to the Brooklyn House.

'Turn right to 17th Street', Google Maps said.

'M-more h-how long?', Liam asked. Boy, he was suffering a lot. Coming from California, this weather seemed to him like walking into a refrigerator.

'Umm…', Kate said. '10 minutes according to Google Maps'

'G-Google?'

'Yeah, why?'

'N-Nothing. It's because we only have Apple in Cali…'

'Oh'

'…b-beautiful Cali…'

'Mmh'

'…w-warm Cali…'

'Shut up'

'Sorry'

They continued walking the rest of the way in silence, until they saw the warehouse. It was quite hard to see, Liam had to really concentrate.

'Woah', Liam said. 'T-That's a big mansion'

Kate nodded. Both of them walked up the stairs of the warehouse in complete silence, except _Lucky You_ by Eminem coming out of Liam's headphones.

Once they finally reached the top, the sight was quite…astonishing.

The mansion was five stories high and was easier to see, compared to before. It was built from enormous limestone blocks and steel-framed windows with hieroglyphs around them. The entrance was a block of wood with no handles or knobs (What?). A terrace wraps around the house and contains a swimming pool, which Liam hoped _not_ to be a home of a white crocodile. But on the other hand, his mentor is a half-man and half-horse, so…why not?

They stood in front of the door and Kate politely knocked on the door. Suddenly, a blue hologram of this weird eye, that you see at these gypsy-magic-cards appeared. Then a distorted voice said,

'Who are you? Normal mortals cannot even see this house! Please, Get away!'

'Why should we?', Liam asked.

'Um…because LORD GANESH LIVES HERE!'

Liam was about to say something, but Kate started talking. 'Hey! Listen to me first! I'm Kate Jackson. Daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson. Do those names mean anything to you?'

'What? Who is that? Who in this world is Perry Johnson?'

Kate sighed. Then she thought for a while. 'I'm the daughter of the Son of Sobek', she said. 'Does this mean anything to you?'

The guy on the other side grunted _politely_. 'Come in'

The massive doors opened on the inside and revealed a huge lounge.

The lounge's cedar ceiling climbed four stories high and was held up by stone pillars with hieroglyphs engraved upon them. Liam could also see three inside-out balconies looking down to the lounge. The walls were decorated with a strange assortment of musical instruments and probably Ancient Egyptian weapons. There was an enormous fireplace (big enough to park a car, he guessed) with stockings and a plasma-screen TV above the mantel showing the music video of _Last Christmas_. The TV and the fireplace were flanked by two, white-leather leather sofas on which three kids were sleeping and only one guy was singing along. The carpet was something Liam hoped _not_ to be a giant snake skin. On the carpet, there was a statue of a human-and-stork hybrid, decorated as a Christmas tree.

Then somebody cleared his throat. Liam looked to his left and saw a short Indian boy wearing a navy shirt.

'Well, welcome to the Brooklyn House!', he said. 'What do you want from us?'

'Hi', answered Kate. 'We would like to see Carter Kane. Does that name mean anything to you?'

'You want to see the pharaoh, eh?', a young British voice asked from behind.

Liam and Kate turned around. There was a small boy wearing a Christmas wool sweater and Pajamas. He had fluffy ginger hair and had a freckled face. This was the guy who was singing along to Last Christmas. He was around seven years old but behaved like an adult.

'I'll take it from here, Raj', the ginger told the other boy. Raj looked disappointed. Then the boy looked at Liam. 'Follow me'

They turned right and walked towards the end of the lounge. Then they started walking on creaking teak-wood stairs up until the second floor. They walked up the corridor until there was a huge terrace with a swimming pool and an amazing view. There was also a man with curly hair sitting on a camping chair facing the view.

'Umm, you have guests, sir', the boy said.

'Guests?'

The man turned around. He was a middle-aged Afro-American with curly brown hair and a clean shaved face. He had sad, brown eyes, but still a genuine smile.

'Hello.', he said. 'Who are you? Well, you cannot be ordinary mortals. If you had been, you would not be here.'

'Yes', Kate said. 'My name is Kate Jackson. I'm the daughter of Percy Jackson'

'That's a name I haven't heard in a long time', he said imitating Obi-Wan Kenobi. 'What makes you come to the Egyptian world? Or, what makes you come to me?'

'We need your help deciphering hieroglyphs', Kate said.  
She then put her bag on the ground and took the papyrus roll out. She was about to hand it over to Carter, but she suddenly let it drop. Liam looked behind Kate and saw a small girl, around five years old, that just bumped into Kate.

'Sorry', said a female voice. 'Excuse my cousin'

Liam looked to his left and saw a beautiful girl around his age. She had chocolate-brown hair, which was unevenly chopped and kaleidoscope-eyes. She was wearing a petrol-blue leather jacket and a blue jeans.

'It's fine', said Liam still staring at her. The girl blushed and looked down at her younger cousin.

By that time, Carter was already reading the papyrus. He looked doubtful.

'Do you recognize anything?', Kate asked.

Carter shook his head. 'I'm afraid that this is old Hieroglyph. I can't read it. I don't think anybody here can read it.'

Kate balled her fists.

'I'm sorry', Carter said. 'But there's no one who can help you'

'There is!', the girl interrupted.

'Amy, no. That is not an option. I don't want to start this argument again!'

'What if this is important? This could be another prophecy, Dad! If we do not—'

'Amira Kane!'

Amy snorted and ran back into the corridor.

Carter sighed. 'Ginger, please lead them back to—'

'Wait', Liam interrupted. 'Me and Kate came all the way though the snow storm just to find out what this sheet of paper means. If there's a chance of finding out. I would take it'

Carter sighed. 'There _is_ one person, who can help you, but she's not here. I ruled her out of my list of people that I care about a long time ago'

'And who is that?', Kate asked.

Carter took a deep breath.

'It's my sister. Sadie Kane.'

 **A/N – Hey Guys! Sorry for releasing this chapter sooo late. I had loads of exams and other stuff on my mind. But now I have Fall Break, so I have time to write the chapters! (yay!) Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and see you next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

House of Life

 **Follow me on Instagram - xskagos**

 **Liam IV**

'What?', Kate asked. 'I thought you and Sadie were the best friends! The Kanes of the Brooklyn House! The Kanes who killed Apophis! The Kanes who saved the world'

 _Apophis?_

'We used to be…everything you just said. But then we had a fight, which resulted in the death of my wife, Zia Rashid. Since that very moment on, I sent her to exile'

'But didn't Sadie apologize? I mean, she wouldn't have killed her brother's wife deliberately. Right?', Liam asked.

'She did', Carter said.

`But why?', Liam asked.

Carter ignored the question. 'Anyways, you will find her somewhere in the American Midwest. She has many hideouts—one at the Grand Canyon, one near California, one in Utah and one which is in Texas.

'But what is she doing there?', Kate asked

'No idea. She made a huge security system, where nobody but her could enter the hideouts. These security spells cost a lot of magical energy, which make the hideouts easy to track, but almost impossible to enter'

'But—'

Kate was interrupted by a loud rumble, coming from the Great Hall. And then Amy immediately stormed onto the terrace.

'We're being attacked.'

 _Attacked?_

'Do you know who it is?', Carter asked.

'No', Amy replied. 'But there are SWAT soldiers here, that shoot Egyptian Gold bullets.'

Liam looked over to Kate and realized both were thinking the same thing. Their eyes met, and Liam could see Kate's memories of the SWAT, General T-Bone and Nico's death in her irises.

'Damn.'

Liam, Kate and Amy rushed down while Kate was saying,

'I am so sorry, this is all my fault. They're here because of me!'

And Amy was constantly replying,

'It's not your fault. I think they're here because of that parchment.'

What did Liam do?

 _His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy  
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti_

Then they finally reached the ground floor. To the Great Room. The whole room was devastated. Most of the lights were off, some were still flashing. Some kids were hiding behind the sofas, all of them were injured. And then there were the SWAT Soldiers. No doubt, they were the same ones that attacked them last year during the quest. He has to stop these soldiers from doing all of this. He took out the headphones from his ears, to concentrate. But then he heard the same song, he was listening on his headphones. Lose Yourself was now playing on the TV. He clenched his fists, ready to fight.  
Perfect.

 _He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready  
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin'_

He concentrated really hard to shape-shift his arms. And in matter of milliseconds he had huge, strong gorilla hands. Liam looked at Kate and Amy and said,

'I will take care of this'

He then launched himself at the SWAT Soldiers. They were strong, though, with their armor. But Liam still had the element of surprise. He was starting to knock them one by one out. In a few seconds, three were already down. And behind him he could hear the kids silently cheering.

 _What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud  
He opens his mouth…_

He got distracted by looking at the kids that one soldier shot him on his throat.

… _but the words won't come out  
He's chokin', how, everybody's jokin' now_

His knees got heavy and he started sinking down, his hand clenched to his throat. The bullet got stuck right in his Pharynx. He couldn't get any air. So, this is how I'll die, he thought.

 _The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!_

What did he think of attacking these soldiers all by himself? How possibly could he have taken 7 soldiers down, all by himself? So, he dies of his own stupidity. But how does that matter now? He's already dead. At least Kate could get his body safely to the graveyard, if he hasn't been trampled to death yet. He could slowly feel all of his senses stopping to work. He once read in a magazine that the last sense that stops working when you die, is your hearing. The pain started fading away, and he had a felling as if his nose were blocked. He couldn't smell his sweat, not even feel it on his skin. And the voices if the children and the steps of the SWAT were slowly fading away. So, this is it then. And then he heard something very faint, but with lots of meaning.

 _SNAP BACK TO REALITY, OH THERE GOES GRAVITY!_

Liam immediately opened his eyes. What was he thinking. He couldn't die just like that. He had a job to do and take care of his family. He also promised Kate to help her with the parchment. He gathered all the power he had left and tried to stand up. But fell down again. He realized he still couldn't breathe. He tried to cough out the bullet and after few tries it came out.

 _Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked_

He gathered all of his power again and stood up. All of the SWAT soldiers realized it and surrounded him in a circle, aiming at him. Liam was furious. He wouldn't give up that easily. These soldiers were about to meet their doom.

 _He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy? No  
He won't have it, he knows his whole back city's ropes_

This just like in a video game, he thought. Punch, kick, jump or walk. Easy.

 _It don't matter, he's dope, he knows that, but he's broke  
He's so stacked that he knows, when he goes back to his mobile home, that's when its_

He clenched his fists one last time and spun his neck. Then he fully concentrated to make his arms the ones of a gorilla again. This time it took longer, because he almost died. But Liam was still ready to fight. Was never better.

 _Back to the lab again yo, this whole rhapsody  
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him_

'It's show time.'  
Liam launched himself on the soldiers again taking them out faster than before. He didn't have the element of surprise, but he had Slim Shady in the background rapping for him.

 _You better lose yourself in the music, the moment  
You own it, you better never let it go  
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow  
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better_

Jump. Duck. Punch. Punch. Jump. Duck. Goose.

What?

Nothing let's continue. Punch. Kick. Duck. Punch….

In a few minutes all of the Soldiers were unconscious. Then Liam heard somebody slowly clapping from the shadows. Then slowly the person came out of the shadows. That person…wait. There were _two_ people coming out. One was wearing a SWAT armor and held a sub-machinegun in his hand. He had plenty of military badges and stood really proud. T-Bone.

Then there was this other man.

He was wearing a black pair of jeans and maroon-red circus blazer. He was holding a stick in his hand and wore a bloodred cylinder. His face was covered I the shadows of the cylinder, but everybody in the room knew who it was.

'Leo' said Kate. 'You survived'

 **A/N – Hey there demons! Its me, ya boy! I am SO sorry to post these chapters late, I mean German schools are really tough! Phew! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one.**

 **PS: I will try to release it as soon as possible.**


	5. Chapter 5

House of Life

 _ **Follow me on Instagram xskagos**_

 **Kate V**

Kate's head just did _BOOM_.

What? Leo is _alive?_ Didn't Sky kill him?

How did he survive? Sky clearly stated that he pushed him off a tower or something like that. Did Leo write the letter just to fool us? That he actually killed Sky?

No.

That can't be possible. We went to the site a week later. No corpses were found. Sky said that Leo started turning into ashes like Spider-Man in Infinity War.

'What a surprise, isn't it?', Leo asked with a grin. 'You wonder how I survived, am I correct?'

Liam sighed. 'Aw man. Again, another fight? Does somebody have orange juice here? I'm thirsty.'

'Who is this?', Amy asked.

'He used to be one of the greatest demigods in his generation', Kate answered. 'But he turned to the dark side'

'Darth Vader Style', Liam said.

'Liam, you go up and check on Carter', Amy said. 'Me and Kate will deal with him'

'Sure, do'

Leo grinned. 'Let the battle begin'

'Oh, we're gonna finish it before you can even say _inferno_ '

And with that said, Amy took out a _paint brush_? What the hell?

Oh.

She drew hieroglyphs in the air with some magical, green-coloured air-ink. Then the hieroglyphs were glowing after she finished. The hieroglyphs disappeared, and dozens of arrows were flying towards Leo as if the hieroglyphs were some kind of portal.  
But Leo was cleverer. He summoned fire onto is palms and burned all the arrows into a pile of ash.

'Got any other tricks up your sleeve?', Leo asked competitively.

'Yes', Kate answered and launched at him with her sword-ring _Stormwave._ Leo took his staff and blocked the attack.

'You wanna play with weapons? Then let's play with weapons!', Leo exclaimed.

Kate ignored him and shouted, 'NOW!'

In a second, Kate released herself and a colony of snakes were flying towards Leo. And then…

Kate doesn't remember what happened.

She just recollects burst of flames and then suddenly both of them were knocked on the ground.

Amy crawled to the boy next to her and whispered something in his ear. The boy nodded and grabbed his phone. Meanwhile, Amy stood up, standing face-to-face with Leo—no, not Leo.

Don Diablo.

Amy reached her hand out for Kate and helped her stand up. Don Diablo didn't look quite human anymore. His whole hand was burning, and flames were coming out of his eyes.

'We didn't give up yet!', Amy shouted. 'The _Mynfith_ will come to our aid!'

 _Myn-who_? Kate wasn't even bothered to ask. But the fact that they will get reinforcement, gave a boost in her adrenalin'

'So, the fight hasn't ended yet?', Diablo asked.

Kate smiled. 'It just has begun'

Suddenly, the wall blew up, revealing a masculine figure covered in shadows.

That was supposed to be _her_ cue, but somebody _had to_ ruin her epic moment. You know what? Life's not fair! It's pretty normal that a jerk, who is a actually a super awesome dude, can ruin your heroic moment!

Anyway, on with the story.

Diablo grinned. 'Did absolutely not expect _you_ to be here'

'Shut up', this Mynfith-Guy said. His voice sounded very familiar. But before Kate could think about it, the shadowy figure kind of flew towards Diablo gave him a left blow.

Diablo crashed onto the wall, while the tiles were falling off. Kate looked for Amy, but she was telling the younger kids to flee. Most of them were severely wounded and were hiding behind furniture.

'Go, go', Amy whispered to the kids. 'Take the portal on the roof and go to the safe house in London'

And then Kate realized.

Amy didn't call the Mynfith to eliminate Diablo. She used him as a distraction, so the young magicians could leave safely.

Smart.

Then Kate heard a loud crash. She turned to Diablo and the Mynfith fighting. Apparently, the Mynfith threw Diablo onto the ceiling. And before Diablo could touch the ground, the Mynfith punched him into the hole in the wall. Diablo didn't fit through the whole hole (whole hole, ha-ha), so he hit some bricks, and most slightly broke his back.

After this mystery dude turned Don Diablo into a chicken nugget, he turned around and revealed his face.

 **(No, I'm not revealing it to you so easily, I'm describing him first so that you can suffer.)**

He was wearing white Nike AF1s and black jeans. He was wearing a white-colored Tommy Hilfiger Hoodie held handcuffs in his hands.

 **I think by now, you know who it is.**

 **If not, let me make you suffer even more (muahahah).**

He had platinum-blonde colored hair and silver eyes.

Suddenly Amy started clapping. 'Well done, Mynfith. You- '

'Sky?!', Kate shouted. 'I've been looking for you since more than a year and you're _here_?'

Sky sighed.

'I'm sorry. I really am', he said. 'But can we _please_ talk about this later?'

Kate frowned but eventually gave up. 'Fine'

Sky slowly walked to the unconscious Don Diablo. He put cuffs on his hands and on his legs and stood up.

' _Khafeith_ ', he said.

Then the cuffs started glowing purple, which probably meant that the cuffs are _turned on_.

'Can't he melt the cuffs, when he wakes up?', Kate asked Amy.

'No, because _Khafeith_ is a protection spell. It disables the persons powers, demigod or mortal, Greek or Egyptian'

Kate nodded.

'Okay, with things finished here, shall we go and check on Carter and Liam?', Kate asked.

'You're right', Amy said. 'Let's go '

 **A/N** **– I'm so sorry guys, that I released this chapter a month later. Anyway, I will be releasing it more often, since I have holidays from next week. Anyway, I will be releasing a new book soon, probably after this one. After this I'm taking a break from writing The Next Generation. I will be starting two short books called Time Jump Part I & II. It will be about Estelle, Percy's little sister, who is coming from the future to kill Percy. I think it is going to be pretty interesting, considering Logic Puzzles and Time Travel stuff. Anyway, stay tuned for next week! **


	6. Chapter 6

The House of Life

 **Amy VI**

When they reached the terrace, Amy's heart almost stopped beating. The whole terrace was devastated. All of the furniture was thrown off, the pool was filled with blood and several bodies were on the floor.

Liam and Carter among them.

'I'm going to get the healing kit!', Sky said and rushed off.

Amy rushed to Carter and kneeled next to him.

'Dad! What happened? Who did this?', Amy asked while mending Carter's wounds. His sleeve was covered in blood. The pulled it out to reveal a severe laceration. He lost too much blood.

'Dad!', Amy sobbed. 'Who did this to you?'

'He was here', Carter said in a faint voice. 'Aswad'

Amy shook. Aswad was here.

And then finally Sky came.

'I have a plan', he said. 'We take them through the portal to London, and the trainees over there can help us mending them.'

Sounded like a good plan. But there was a flaw. Amy counted 7 bodies including Carter and Liam. There were too much they couldn't carry everyone.

'Amy', Carter whispered. 'Go to the library and activate the Shabti'

Amy rushed to the door. She said the password and the door opened to her will. Many Shabti were frozen and standing around. Why would Carter want her to summon the Shabti?

Wait.

If she summons them, they could help her carry the bodies (she refused to say corpses, because they will not die) through the portal.

That was really smart.

But there was a catch. Amy was afraid of the library since she turned thirteen. There was a photo of her Dad and another guy named Percy Jackson, who is apparently a famous Greek demigod. Since the night of her thirteenth birthday, she has been getting visions in the form of dreams. She always was on a flying ship with the head of a dragon. She held a horn in her hand, which was releasing fruit. There were seven other people, too. Six of them were about her age and one of them was a half-man half-goat.

One of those six, was none other than that Percy Jackson.

So, whenever she looks at that picture, she gets a blackout for a few minutes and gets the same vision again and again.

Everyone on the ship were fighting against some sort of snow goddess, who was unleashing a snowstorm on the ship. She usually forgets how everybody looked like and what their name is except two:

First this Percy Jackson.

And second, a blond-haired boy named Jason Grace.

He was pretty cute actually. Amazing figure, strong and had a cute scar under his lip.

Just like Liam, minus the scar.

You just didn't read that. That wasn't meant to be in the text. Forget it!

Anyway, back to present.

She said the password to activate the Shabti and they stood up, ready for orders.

She just realized, she never commanded Shabti before.

'Umm…carry the fallen magicians through the portal on the roof to London and give the trainees the bodies and tell them that they need medical support.'

The Shabti stayed where they where.

'Now!'

The Shabti started marching through the doorway taking the bodies. After the last one came out, Amy followed. Then she saw that a Shabti was trying to take Liam while Kate was sobbing on him.

'No!', Kate sobbed. 'Don't take him'

But the Shabti was still trying to.

'Hey!', Amy shouted. 'Leave him alone. Pick another one!'

The Shabti obeyed and let Liam go. Amy rushed to Kate and pat her on the back.

'Hey, he is gonna be fine', Amy said. 'Liam is going to be alright'

Amy stood up.

'Let's take him through the portal to London, where the other magicians can help him', Amy said. 'Come on, let's go'

'Okay', Kate sniffed.

Soon they reached the portal. Amy and Sky helped Kate carry Liam, because Kate didn't manage on her own.

'Ready?', Sky asked.

'Yup', both of them said. Sky took a step inside and immediately they were in a sandstorm portal. A few minutes later they reached London. The portal exited in the British Museum of History. A few years after they defeated Apophis, Carter and Sadie managed to buy the Museum from the government to use it as a safe house if the Brooklyn House gets attacked. They were in the Great Hall. There were multiple beds, on which the wounded were lying on, while the other trainees and some Shabti were healing them.

Suddenly, Ginger rushed to them.

'Hello, Miss Kane', he said. 'We got your message from the Shabti, and we figured we could also activate our Shabti to help us.'

'Well done, Ginger', Amy said. 'First of all, are _you_ okay?'

'Yes, Miss Kane'

'I told you many times that you shouldn't call me that'

'I'm sorry—Amy'

'It's fine'

'Amy', Sky said. 'Let's go and keep Liam on a bed'

'Right. I almost forgot'

Carter was slowly opening his eyes.

'Amy?', he asked.

'Yes, it's me, Dad'

'Is everyone fine?'

'Yes they are, Dad. But you should take some rest'

'I'm fine', Carter said trying to sit up straight.

'You had some pretty bad wounds there, Dad'

'I know. Thank you, for saving me and the others'

'You're welcome', Amy said. 'But let me get to the point. Are you sure Aswad was here?'

Carter nodded. 'Aswad, the dark magician was here. He said he was looking for a scroll. My theory is, that he was looking for the one that Kate has'

'But why would he want it? What is written inside?'

'I don't know, Amy. Like I said, it is old Hieroglyph. Only Sadie can read it. And Aswad'

'So we need to find out what what these old Hieroglyphs mean, before they do. Because, if Aswad wants it, then that means it is very important'

'Yes, you are right. But if Aswad is after that scroll, that means that Kate is in grave danger. I'll need you to promise one thing. I think we both know, that Kate will go to Sadie to decipher the scroll. I need you to promise me that, you will protect her on her journey'

'That means—'

'—that I am allowing you to join Kate on her mission to decipher the scroll'

'Thanks, Dad! You're amazing'

'I believe, that you are strong enough to take your first mission'

 **A/N – Hey Guys! Told ya I will be releasing the chapters faster! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next one.**


	7. Chapter 7

House of Life

 **Kate VII  
**

It's been a week since they fled to London. Everybody has recovered. Physically speaking. Mentally? Not yet. It has been a very long time since the Brooklyn House was attacked. According to Amy, this was the first attack in the last fifteen years. For many, it must have been the first time they have been put into a lethal condition. Kate especially pities the young trainees. Most of them were severely injured, a few have a life-long scar. Kate had only experienced half of it. The real deal was happening on the terrace, where Carter, Liam, and several other trainees were. It was difficult to comprehend that Carter Kane, one of the strongest and most powerful people that Kate's father knew was defeated. Apparently, Amy and Carter knew what was caused the mass destruction on the upper floor, but they tried their best to hide it. But Kate knew by their body language and their responses that they don't want others to know, so she let go.

One thing she couldn't get her mind off was the part she experienced.

Diablo is alive. So is Sky.

And Sky has been hiding out _all the time_ with the Egyptians. Sky promised that they would talk after the matters were finished. It's been days and Kate didn't have the courage to speak up. They also never talk to each other when they meet. The closest thing they have had to talk about was 'Hello' and 'Hi'.

But those weren't weirdest things that happened this week.

Two days ago—maybe three, Kate did a midnight wandering. She needed to go to the toilet, but she lost her way. She walked across the hallways until she could find a bedroom of somebody. Then she found the door and opened it.

But the room was empty, except a stone slab with writings, standing on a small pedestal.

Kate was strangely attracted to the stone. As if she _had to_ touch it. So, she walked slowly toward the slab. She was so close, that she could recognize the writings. There were three different languages. She could recognize the first one. It was probably old Hieroglyphic. The second language looked very similar to Arabic. And the last one was Ancient Greek. She looked at the slab for a while and then finally touched it.

Warmth surged through her body, and she got a _very_ familiar feeling. She doesn't know why, but she as soon as she touched the stone slab, she suddenly remembered the sound of a rushing river, the feel of water tingling on her fingertips and the taste of sweet glacier water. It all seemed so real, that if she closed her eyes, she would really think she was sitting by the riverbank.

But then she caught back to her senses.

She realized, that it was already late and ran back to her bedroom to sleep.

Kate thought all of this, while she was putting on her clothes and getting ready. Amy wanted to talk to them in the main hall. Kate got everything and was on her way. She passed through corridors and rooms until she finally reached the hall. Sky, Amy and Carter were already there. Amy was standing next to Carter in the center of the room and Sky was leaning onto one of the beds, using his phone.

"Hey, Kate", Amy said. "We all have to talk"

At that moment, Kate could hear somebody running towards the room. She looked to the door and saw Liam running in, putting his Supreme Jacket on.

"Sorry for being late", Liam said. "So, what you wanna talk about?"

Amy took a deep breath. "Carter told me that, he told you about Sadie, am I right?"

Everyone nodded. "Well, Carter is officially allowing me to take part on your mission to decipher old hieroglyphics", Amy said enthusiastically. "So, by today around 3 o'clock, we will begin our journey to find Sadie and decipher it."

 _That's amazing!_ , a voice in her head said. _But I still wonder how Liam and Carter got hurt so badly…_

Right. She wanted to remember that. But the voice in her head sounded different. As is if it wasn't hers.

"Okay, but I have one question", Kate said. "What happened to Liam and Carter? And all of the other trainees?

Amy looked at Carter, signalizing him, that she doesn't want to talk about it. Carter sighed.

"We were attacked by the leader of a terrorist organization. His name is Aswad"

 _Silence_

"What terrorist organization?", Sky asked.

"They call themselves the _Red Cobras_ ", Carter said. "Around fifteen years ago, when the First Nome, alias the House of Life fell apart, we became the center of the Ancient Egyptian cult"

"And some people didn't agree with that", Liam guessed.

"Exactly", Amy responded. "Especially the members of the eighteenth Nome located in St. Petersburg"

"So, they created a rebellion", Carter added. "And Aswad came out of the blue, revealing his amazing powers"

"And in no time, he defeated the initial president of the rebellion and created a terrorist organization out of it", Amy finished.

"But how could he defeat you", Sky asked Carter. "Aren't you the most powerful magician right now"

" _One_ of the most powerful magicians right now", Carter corrected. "There are three. Aswad is among them"

 _Ooooh, I wonder who the third one is…_

"Shut up", Kate said aloud. And then everybody started staring at her.

Kate smiled out of embarrassment. "Sorry, I was talking to myself"

 **A/N - I AM SO SORRY. But a lot of things have been going on lately. Christmas, New Year (belated wishes btw), new school semester and last but not least, breakup**

 ***internal screaming***

 **Anyway, hope you liked it and see you next month!**

 **jk**


	8. Chapter 8

House of Life

 **Sky VIII**

Sky cursed.

They started from Los Angeles just two hours ago, and they were already attacked. They used a portal from London to go to LA. Over there, they rented a yellow-colored Dodge Ram and started their journey to the Grand Canyon. They were already driving a very long time and decided to take a break near a gas station. Amy and Kate went to the little girl's room, so Liam and Sky were alone in the truck. They planned to listen to the Fast 8 soundtrack while driving, but the only song that the girls liked was "See you again". And now, when the girls were away, they could finally listen to the other songs.

But, as said before, they were attacked.

There was shockwave, so strong, that it turned the pickup upside-down.

"You okay, Liam?", Sky asked.

"Y-Yeah", he said. "But I have another problem"

Sky stopped listening, as soon as Liam said that he's okay. Sky used all of his might to open the door. It even took him to use his wind powers. He then immediately walked towards Liam to help him out.

"The door's jammed!", Sky shouted trying to breathe, while they were in a cloud of smoke. "Try transforming your arms into tiger's arms! You then might be able to scratch your way out!"

"G-Good idea"

In a moment, Liam had tiger claws instead of hands. It took a few seconds, but eventually, he also got out. Sky helped him stand upright and they looked over the car to see what happened. Sky could see a crashed, burning gas delivery truck lying on the road. The area was full of smoke, they could barely breathe. Behind the truck, Sky could see a red figure approaching them, with an orange-red light in their hands.

Diablo.

"Ready for a rematch, Willow?", Diablo asked from a distance. Sky didn't even bother to answer. He knew that a fight was about to come. But he wondered where Amy and Kate were. The gas station shop was intact, but they must have heard the blast. Maybe they were trapped inside. Sky could not see if the door was fine.

"Liam…", Sky told him. "Go and check on Amy and Kate. I will deal with Diablo."

"No! Why do _you_ always get to be in the field?", Liam protested. "Why do _I_ always have to save the others?!"

"Because I am the only one who can actually deal with Diablo!", Sky shouted at Liam. "You could barely even come up against a few soldiers! Now get Amy and Kate before you get yourself killed!"

Liam grunted. Sky could see that Liam knew that Sky was right. But Liam didn't want to accept it.

"Fine, whatever", Liam said.

"Thank you"

With that being settled, Sky turned to Diablo.

"Are you done?", Diablo asked annoyed. "Because it would be impolite to attack you while you are busy"

"How are you alive?", Sky asked.

Diablo grinned.

"I was revived. It doesn't really matter _how_ ", he said. He looked down and summoned fire on his hands. "Can we start now?"

Diablo stretched his arms to the open and fire crawled up his arms to his shoulders. His arms were covered with fire. Diablo then did the Kamehameha and shot a blaze of fire onto Sky. Sky could react fast and covered his face with his left elbow while creating a windshield. The blaze hit the shield, covering it with flames. Sky couldn't hold much longer, so he took his right arm and punched in the middle of his windshield. This led to that the windshield was catapulted to the front, towards Diablo.

Diablo then took his scepter and sliced the windshield in half.

"That's all you got?", Diablo shouted.

"Not even a fraction of what I can do"

And with that, Sky bent over to his knees and slammed his hand on the ground. Suddenly a huge gust of wind came to be.

And it didn't stop.

Diablo smiled out of ignorance and tried to launch another blaze at Sky. But it didn't work. As soon as he summoned fire, it was extinguished by the heavy wind.

"I'm impressed!", Diablo claimed. "Trying to disarm me, huh?"

Sky smiled. He could see how Diablo was pretending to stay calm. He was thinking of a way to over-smart him. But Sky wouldn't let that happen. He ran towards Diablo to end him with a blow. But then, Diablo looked at him with a grin.

It was a trap.

Diablo took his scepter and knocked Sky out. Sky felt pain on his skull and fell down. He tried to get up, but his legs and arms were paralyzed. At least he was still conscious. He couldn't control the wind anymore, so the gust stopped, and Diablo could use fire again.

Just when Sky thought he failed, Liam came to him with Amy and Kate. Liam looked at Sky and said,

"We'll take it from here"

With that said, Amy and Liam rushed to the field, ready to fight Diablo. Kate kneeled next to Sky and took out a small flask from her bag. She opened it and poured it in Sky's mouth. He could slowly feel his arms and his legs again. He could move them now.

"Better?", Kate asked.

"Yes", Sky answered and stood up. He expected to see Liam and Amy fighting against Diablo, but they weren't. Diablo stood there, stuck onto the ground, looking at Amy.

"Piper?", he said.

Amy looked mad. "I am not Piper!", Amy shouted. "Stop calling- "

"Amy!", Kate said. "He might know"

Sky didn't understand a single thing they were talking about, but he figured it was important.

Amy sighed. She turned to the rest of the group.

"First you all deserve to know", Amy said. "I've been having dreams. And not just any dreams, but always the exact same one"

She sighed again.

"It is early in the morning and I'm on a ship. A flying ship. When I first get up a see a couple leaning onto the rail, holding hands. The girl is short and has coffee brown skin. The boy is tall and is of Asian descent"

"Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque", Kate said.

"My parents", Liam said.

"Then when I walk further, I see a couple on their way going down. The boy is tall, has black hair and sea-green eyes"

"Percy Jackson", Sky guessed.

"My dad", Kate said.

"And the girl has blonde hair and stormy gray eyes."

"Annabeth Chase"

"My mom"

"Then even further I see a short Latino boy, fixing something on a Wii Joystick"

"Me", Diablo said from the distance. Sky could see that he had tears in his eyes while daydreaming.

"It was our first night on the Argo II", Diablo said. No, it wasn't Diablo anymore. It was Leo. "I accidentally programmed the buttons wrong, so I was staying awake all night trying to fix it."

Leo stopped talking and looked on the ground. He looked sad. Then Amy spoke up.

"Leo, do you know why I am getting these dreams?", she asked. "Do you know what this all means?"

Leo looked Amy straight into the eye.

"Yes. I know"

 **A/N – Hey guys! Sorry for uploading so late. Make sure to review, favorite and follow! Sorry for the cliffhanger, by the way. Stay tuned!**


	9. Chapter 9

House of Life

 **Amy IX**

It was just too much for her to take in.

It started all in the car, when Kate was showing her photos of Camp Half-Blood because Amy asked. She first showed New Athens, all of the white-washed beautiful buildings mixed with modern architecture. She really liked them, but that's not the point. Then Kate showed her photos of the Camp itself. The cabins, the lava wall, the lake and the Big House. Surprisingly, all of it seemed so familiar, as if she had already been there. Then Kate showed her a photo of a statue. Kate told Amy that the statue was built to honor two great demigods: Jason Grace and Piper McLean.

That was the real trigger.

Amy shrugged. "What were their names, again?"

"Jason Grace and Piper McLean. Why? Have you heard from them before?"

"Kate", Amy said. "I have to tell you something…"

Kate looked confused. "Umm, okay?", she said waiting for an answer.

"Not now", Amy answered and stared at Kate. She understood.

"Liam! Can you please turn the volume down a bit?", Kate asked.

Liam did as she told him to and asked, "Why?"

"Can we take a break? We have to go to the bathroom."

"Did you hear that, Sky?", Liam said. "Drive us to the nearest gas station"

As soon as they reached a gas station, they immediately got out of the car and Amy was dragging Kate towards the bathroom. They got in a stall and locked it. Amy opened her backpack, looking for her DreamShare Balsam. It was neon-green colored and self-brewed. She found the tube and applied some on her finger tips.

"Hold still", Amy said rubbing the balsam on Kate's forehead.

"What is this?", Kate asked.

"You'll see"

Amy closed her eyes and thought about the dream she gets. Instantly she was teleported to the dream.

"What's happening? Where am I?", Kate's voice asked.

"Calm down. We are sharing a dream."

"That's the balsam you applied to me isn't it?"

"Yes. I need to tell you about this. About two weeks before you showed up, I used to have this dream about every two days"

"Okay…."

"When you finally did show up, I am having this dream _every night_."

"Oh my- "

"We're both in one body. Now watch carefully, it starts now."

Amy started going up steps. Warm orange light was shining from the end. She got out and saw that she was on a ship. On her right, she could see a couple leaning onto a rail. The girl is short and has coffee brown skin. The boy is tall and is of Asian descent.

"Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque", Kate said.

Then she walked further and saw a couple on their way going down. The boy is tall, has black hair and sea-green eyes. And the girl has blonde hair and stormy gray eyes.

"Percy and Annabeth Jackson", Kate said. "My parents"

Even further she sees a short Latino boy, fixing something on a Wii Joystick.

"Leo"

The she suddenly heard a strong, but faint voice.

"Amy! Amy! Wake up!"

It was Liam's voice.

"Kate! Come on! Diablo is here!"

Amy then suddenly woke up with a gasp. She saw that Kate was also already awake.

The whole bathroom was ruined. _Thank god, we are fine_ , Amy thought. It looked as if a bomb exploded here.

"We have to go! Sky is dealing with Diablo all by himself!"

 **Jump to armistice.**

Diablo opened his coat and took out a dagger. It was so beautiful, that in the sun it looked like as if it were made of light.

Kate stared at the dagger. "Is that- "

" _Katoptris_ ", Leo said. "Ancient Greek for _mirror_ or _looking glass_. It belonged to Piper McLean"

"How did you find it?", Kate asked. "The dagger was lost as soon as she committed suicide."

"Well, I heard that because she killed herself with it, she took it with her to the underworld", Liam said.

"All are wrong", Leo stated. "Before she died, she gave this to me. She said, _give this to a person you will meet, who looks exactly like me_."

Leo looked at Amy. And walked towards her. Amy didn't know what to expect. So, she took hold of the dagger.

Immediately, she could see all of the memories that this Piper McLean, who looked exactly like her had. Most of them were on the flying ship. For a split second, the she could see her dream. It wasn't a dream.

It was a memory.

She could see the last moments of Piper McLean's life and then she knew.

She knew all of it.

She knew what is happening and what is going to happen.

She was daydreaming, and Liam apparently saw it, so he said, "Amy. Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine"

Leo sighed.

"I have to tell you something. All of you"

Amy was curious.

"He told me I should, but I can't. I can't be this anymore!", Leo exclaimed.

"What?", Kate asked. "What can't you be anymore?"

"I can't be the bad guy anymore. I was forced by him", Leo said with tears. He then pulled up his sleeve and showed a blue/purple-colored tattoo on his forearm. It was a tattoo of a lightning.

"He put me under a spell", Leo said. "If I ever tell the truth, then he would kill me"

"What truth?", Kate asked.

"I was forced by him to be the bad guy. I didn't have another choice. He recruited me five years ago. Since then I have been fulfilling his evil deeds. A life filled with lies!"

Leo sighed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to kill Nico! He threatened me by saying that he would kill my family! Poor Diego, he never had a real father"

Kate gasped.

"Before I die, I want to tell you one more thing. His plan is, to resurrect Ouranos. The first primordial."

Leo screamed with pain. "Kate!", Leo shouted. "Tell my family that I love them!"

Leo fell to the ground.

"No, wait!", Kate said, trying to catch Leo. "I promise you to tell Diego and Calypso that you love them, for something in exchange."

Kate sighed.

"Who is this _he_ you were talking about? Who is your boss?"

Leo spit blood.

"J-J-Jason", he said. "J-Jason Grace. He's back. He's back from the dead "

 **A/N – Sorry for the late release. Hope you liked my chapter. Please review and until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

House of Life

 **Kate X**

Kate was facing towards the bonfire. She could feel the heat on her skin, in contrast to the cold night breeze at her back. Kate was just focusing on the fire, deep in her own thoughts. She always thought of fire as destructive and violent. But it can also cause serenity. In a cold winter night, the fireplace is the best thing you can have. Too bad, that she never actually experienced winter. Her parents despise snow, so every winter they go to a warm place, like Australia, where it's warm even in December. Other kids at her school envy her because she is always on beautiful beaches with blue water. But nobody asks what she thinks. Beaches may be fun, but she would rather have hot cocoa, while wearing a wool sweater, sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace watching Christmas movies.

Oh, the chills.

She didn't expect her winter to be like this. She knew that she was on a quest, but she expected to be home by now. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She turned it on and saw that her father sent her a photo of Cooper in swimming trunks on the beach. They were in the Bahamas, while she was suffering in the cold desert of Arizona. Everybody was already sleeping; Kate has to keep watch. Her phone buzzed again. It was a reminder, that now Sky has to keep watch and she could go to sleep. Finally. She crawled over to Sky's sleeping bag and shook his body.

"Sky", she whispered. "Wake up"

He opened his eyes. "What is it?"

"It's your turn to keep watch. I'll go to sleep"

Sky nodded and stood up.

Kate crawled back to her own sleeping bag and lied down. It was a clear night sky. She could see all the beautiful stars shimmering in the distance. She tried to get some sleep, but she couldn't get her mind off things. The whole story with Amy and Leo. After he died, they had burned his body and offered his ashes to the gods. She wondered what Amy say, or remembered. Was she the secret daughter of Piper? Was she born before Piper died? Kate didn't know. And she still had to figure out what the scroll means and get to Sadie.

Kate then heard a small rumbling and saw that Sky was walking up to her. She then sat up straight, ready for a conversation. Sky then sat in front of her.

"Can't sleep?", Sky asked.

"No", Kate answered.

"Why?"

"I have my reasons"

 _awkward silence_

"I'm sorry", said Sky.

"For what?"

"Everything. I'm sorry that I disappeared so suddenly. It must have been a little hard to comprehend- "

" _A little hard to comprehend_!? Sky, I had to go through a lot! I have been looking for you for almost a year!"

"Kate- "

"Sky, you were the only thing that was on my mind when you were gone, and as soon as I finally let it go you came back!"

"Kate", Sky said. "While I was learning to control my power with the Egyptians, you were also the only thing on my mind"

Kate then looked at Sky's eyes and saw that they were almost tearing.

"I missed you", he said, leaning in closer to Kate's face and closed his eyes. Kate did the same. Just before their lips touched, Kate whispered something.

"I missed you, too"

 **A/N: Sorry that I'm posting so late an unfrequent. I'll try to post more frequent. Make sure to follow for Notifications when I post a new chapter. I know, it's a very short chapter. Sorry again.**


	11. Chapter 11

The House of Life

 **Liam XI**

„Oh my god these sandwiches are so good", Liam said stuffing them into his face. "I wonder who made them…"

"We got it, Liam", Sky said with laughter. "We all understood you make amazing sandwiches"

Liam chuckled. It's evening in the desert. They are at the grand canyon. They bought some food at a local convenience store, so he made Chinese-Fireball Sandwiches á la Liam. The sandwiches were probably too spicy, but everybody was _super_ hungry, so they ate whatever they were given. They were eating around the pickup. Amy and Kate were sitting in the trunk, Sky was sitting on the hood (how the hell did he get up there) and Liam was leaning onto the door. All they had to do now was wait. Wait till Sadie's secret lair shows up. They must have been waiting for hours and eaten dozens of sandwiches because now, the tourist attraction was closing, and the sky has turned orange.

"When will it show up?", Kate complained.

"It will be there", Sky responded with a smile. "Soon"

Kate smiled back. They were acting differently towards each other. Something has changed. Because the last time Liam checked, they wouldn't speak a word to each other.

"Look!", Amy shouted.

Finally.

But when Liam looked to check, it wasn't there. He was confused.

"Amy, where is it?", he asked. "I can't see it"

"Me neither", Kate added.

"You guys seriously can't see it?", Amy asked.

Everybody shook their heads.

"Well it's right there!"

"Maybe only magicians can see it?", Kate suggested.

Amy facepalmed. "Right, how could I not think of that"

The mood was really tense.

"Was that sarcasm?", Liam asked. "Cuz, I seriously can't differentiate"

"No, it wasn't", Amy replied.

"Was that sarcasm, too? You know I really can't- "

"Shut up", Sky said.

Amy sighed. "It's an old but powerful spell. We also have it on the Brooklyn House"

"But the only difference is, that we _can_ see the Brooklyn House", Sky said.

"Yes, but do you know what my aunt is famous for?"

*dramatic music stars playing*

"No", Liam answered. "Are we supposed to?"

Everybody facepalms.

"Oh", Liam realized. "That was a rhetorical question"

Amy laughed this time. "Anyway, if there is one thing that my aunt is famous for, it is for fiddling with spells"

* * *

They were at the front door of Sadie's lair. Amy sprayed something on them, which tricks the spell into thinking that you're a magician. So, they could now finally see the lair. Well, they couldn't actually see the lair. It turns out, that Amy didn't see a full fortress but a 7 meters high wooden door.

There was just a door, nothing else.

Liam guessed it was some sort of spell that Sadie used.

"Well, why don't we open it?", Kate asked.

Liam facepalmed. "Did you ever watch Indiana Jones? The ancient Egyptians, like, invented booby traps!"

"It's not that", Amy said. "I am not sure what to expect as soon as we go in"

"I say, let's open the door and check it out", Sky suggested. "What do we have to lose?"

Everybody agreed, except Liam. "Right, cuz who needs a life?"

Amy walked forward and pushed the door front. Thank god, Liam thought. But when she pushed the door even more arrows started flying towards them. Liam expected Amy to do something, but she was equally as frightened. But then he saw some water flying towards the arrows and froze to ice, holding the arrows.

It was Kate.

"I never knew you could do that", Sky said.

"Me neither", Kate said surprised.

"I TOLD YOU", Liam shouted. "THERE ARE BOOBY TRAPS"

However, the rest of the group ignored him and continued walking inside. It was a dark hallway with metal walls. It reminded Liam of a sewer. At the far end he could see a wooden door. That must be the main entrance, he guessed.

When they finally reached the door and Liam surprisingly didn't activate any booby traps, the entrance they came from closed.

"Guess it's a one-way trip, then", Sky said.

" _GUESS IT'S A ONE-WAY TRIP, THEN?!_ WHERE ARE WE, IN A MEME?", Liam exclaimed. "WE'RE TRAPPED IN A MAGIC HARRY POTTER SEWER THAT PHYSICALLY DOES NOT EXIST GODDAMMIT"

Just as he said it, the door opened. It revealed a huge room with warm yellow light. The room was in a circular shape with steps going down. The room was messy, lots of stuff were lying around but it still looked good. All the tools and gear were either Egyptian or looked like something which belonged to Galileo Galilei. The walls were covered with old-fashioned wallpaper. But Liam could barely see any wall because the whole room was filled with shelves which were filled with old books, curious potions, trapped hybrid animals and mysterious jars filled with various things. A huge glass chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, radiating all the yellow light. It felt magnificent and homey at once.

"Wow, I didn't expect it to look like this", Amy said. "I can really feel the magic power here",

With the blink of an eye, a small blue smoke cloud appeared in the middle of the room. To be seen was a middle-aged woman, who was wearing a brown Jedi-style robe and beneath it a red shirt and jeans. She had caramel hair with blue tips and blue eyes. She had a young face but had that certain sadness in her eyes. The same sadness Carter had.

"How may I help you?", she asked in a friendly voice. "Since you couldn't possibly have found this place by accident."

"Yes, we wanted to- "

"Ugh", she sighed. "Is my brother sending kids now to capture me?" She let out a deep breath while taking out her wand. "Guess, you'll die, then. _Hatb!_

"No, w- ", Kate shouted.

But before she could finish, Amy rushed forward, pulled her magic pen out and drew a shield. The woman's wand beamed a red ray towards them, but Amy's shield repelled it and it hit her back. The woman held her wand towards the ray and the wand sucked it inside itself. After sucking the whole ray, the wand glowed red.

"You earned my respect, my brother's minions can't hold it back", she said dusting off her robe.

"Let me introduce myself to you", she said bowing down. "I am Sadie Kane, sorceress of the west"

 **A/N – Same. text. every. time. bye.**


	12. Chapter 12

House of Life

 **Sky XII**

After they called for truce, Liam explained that they are here for information. Sadie insisted that they talk about it while having tea. Sadie led them down the stairs to a room with a small round table. As soon as everybody was sitting down, Sadie's invisible servants served them Ancient Egyptian Rooibos. The tea tasted amazing, however, the room they were in was far more interesting. It created the illusion that they were in the terrace of the Brooklyn House. But the view was not showing New York, the Brooklyn House was apparently located in the Sahara Desert with a view on the Cheops Pyramid during sunset.

"This is really beautiful", Amy said. "Doesn't this strain you, for all the magic energy it requires?"

"It doesn't strain me at all", Sadie answered. "You see, I have a magical energy generator, which 'powers' all of the magic and spells I use in the house."

Sadie and Amy continued talking about magic stuff, but Sky was worried about Kate. She didn't look so well as soon she entered the hideout. He kept on asking her if she was okay, but she kept on convincing him that she was fine. Sky knew she wasn't, and it sounded as if she wanted to convince herself.

As soon as they were finished with tea, Sadie insisted on talking to Kate and Amy alone, and told Sky and Liam to go look around. They were allowed to go anywhere and do everything, as no secrets should be kept about knowledge. So, they went downstairs and ended up in a full, dark, dusty room. Liam then tipped Sky on his shoulder and pointed to a book in the shelf.

"Look, the book title is 'How to dragon a train', the cover is a picture of Thomas the Tank Engine with a photoshopped Smaug as his face!"

They both laughed.

But a certain book caught Sky's eye.

He walked towards the shelf, where the massive book was and pulled it out. It first rested in his palms, but he decided to keep it on the table. Sky bent down and blew the dust off the cover to look at it closely. The cover was a black background with a forest-green colored title in a fancy font.

"The Family Woods", he read.

"This book looks creepy and mysterious.", Liam said. "Open it!"

Sky flipped open the first page but just saw a blank page.

"There's nothing written here.", Sky said flipping through the pages. "It's blank!"

"This doesn't make sense.", Liam said. "I can see sentences."

Sky looked surprised at Liam.

"I'll take the book", Liam said snatching it off Sky's hands. "I guess, you're not worthy to read it"

Liam flipped back to the first page and read it quietly.

"What does it say?", Sky asked with a smirk. " _If you can read this, you are stupid?_ "

"Very funny, I almost died of laughter."

"I think it's pretty funny"

"Well, good for you"

 _Awkward Silence_

"Well, what does it say?!"

"It says that you have to make a vow, if I want everybody to read it"

„Then why don't you say the vow?"

„Because I have to vow on burning this book after reading it, and if I don't, I will be cursed"

„It's not a big deal, is it?", Sky considered. „I mean, you'll just have to burn it"

„I guess", Liam said. „ _I vow that I will burn this book after it has no use for me, if I shall break this vow, I will be cursed under the name of Isfet"_

Slowly, the initial text disappeared, and a new sentence appeared at the top of the page. It read: _Write the person's family name, and you will see his family tree._

"Liam", Sky said. "Look for a pen"

"Why?"

"You will see."

Eventually, they found a fountain pen with black ink, and Sky started writing. Carefully and in his cleanest handwriting he wrote:

 _Zhang_

Like before, the text disappeared. But now, a huge tree was starting to appear. It first started at the roots and slowly moved its way up top.

"Hey!", Liam said. "Why couldn't you choose your own name?"

"I don't have any family except my sister and my dad, Aeolus"

"Right"

"Yeah…"

"Sorry 'bout that"

"Anyway, check if everything is right"

Liam looked closely at the book and scanned everything.

"I'm surprised", he said. "Everything is correct."

"Wow", Sky realized. "Liam, do you know what this means?"

"No", Liam said. "Should I?"

Sky facepalmed.

"Oh", Liam guessed. "It's a rhetorical question."

Sky sighed. "This means that we know who is in what family!"

"How is this information valuable?", Liam questioned. "I mean, who cares if I have a brother?"

"This information can be valuable with demigods", Sky said. "They do not have to wait to be claimed by their godly parent, but with this book—this particular book—they can find out whenever they want to"

"Oh, and with this you could may be able to find your long-lost brother, who is much cooler than you, and your girlfriend cheats on you with him, so you become evil and corrupted and to destroy the world, you must join forces with Chaos."

After he finished, the name _Chaos_ still echoed through the room.

"Be careful", Sky warned. "Names have power"

"Yeah", Liam said. "I guess"

"I have an idea", Sky said. "Why don't we look for somebody, who we don't know much about"

"Yes! Michael Jackson for example"

"No", Sky said disappointed. "I was thinking more of…Amy"

"Good idea"

So just like that, Sky wrote the name _Kane_ on the paper. The same thing happened again, the text disappeared, and a tree showed up.

But it wasn't what they expected.

"Whoa", Sky said. "This doesn't make sense"

"No, maybe it does", Liam suggested. "You see, I was talking to Amy the other day. I asked her like when's your birthday and stuff. But I found one thing that doesn't make sense. You see, Amy told me that she was born after the fight between Carter and Sadie. But that doesn't make sense, because her mother, Zia, was killed during the fight"

"So, you're saying…"

"Yeah, the book is right. Amy is not the daughter of Carter and Zia, but the daughter of—"

"HEY GUYS, COME OVER HERE!", Amy shouted. "Kate passed out. We don't know why"

 **A/N: hehehehehe. i like cliff hangers.**


	13. Chapter 13

House of Life

 **Liam XIII**

When Liam entered the room, he saw Kate lying on the floor as if she was in a deep sleep. Sadie was kneeling next to her rubbing yellow some healing gel onto her chin. He then took a look at the table and saw that hey were having tea before. It smelled really nice. With the warm lighting and the wooden elements, the atmosphere felt really homey. Except a girl lying unconscious on the floor, of course.

"What happened?", Liam asked.

"We don't know yet", Amy replied. "We were just having tea and then she suddenly passed out"

"Just like that?", Sky asked.

"Well, I could see that she was kind of uncomfortable as soon as she stepped in, but I didn't think this would happen."

And then Kate woke up with a gasp.

"Oh, thank the gods", Sadie said. "The gel worked"

"What happened?", Kate asked.

"Well, actually we were expecting that you'd know the answer", Liam explained.

Kate sighed and looked at herself.

"Did I pass out?"

Everyone nodded.

"Stay still, Kate", Sadie said. She adjusted her position, rested her palms on Kate's forehead and closed her eyes. A few moments later, she removed it. Kate opened her eyes and looked surprised.

"Thanks", Kate said, trying to get up. "How did you clear out my headache?"

"Is that why you passed out?", Sky asked.

"I think so", Kate answered. "As soon as I got in here, I had a weird feeling. Then suddenly my head started hurting like hell. A voice inside my head was telling me to get out of here"

Everybody was then looking at Sadie for answers.

"I just have one question", Sadie claimed. "How the hell did you become a host?"

"That shouldn't be possible.", Amy said. "Why would they mingle with the Greeks?"

"Hold up, for one second", Liam said. "Kate is a _what_?"

"A host"

"Of whom?"

"A goddess"

"What do you mean, she's a host of a goddess?"

"Our gods don't work like your gods", Amy said. "They don't have a physical form and have to rest in host bodies"

"So you're telling me Kate is infected by a goddess"

"Not infected", Sadie said. "It's more like two souls sharing one body or having a voice in your head, which takes 50% of your decisions.

"Kate", Amy said. "Are you okay?"

They discussion got so deep between Liam and Amy, that they did not even realize how the affected person actually feels.

"Yeah, it's just a little hard to comprehend", Kate said. "You know, someone else living inside your body thing."

"Why don't you try and talk to her", Sadie suggested. "Believe me, I have had the same experience. Maybe start with a simple hello?"

"Hello?", Kate said hesitantly. Then she started smiling.

"Is she talking to you?", Sky asked.

"Yes" Kate said smiling.

"Ask who she is!", Amy suggested.

"W-Who are you?"

Kate smiled. "It's Nephthys, goddess of rivers"

"Oh, that's why you froze these arrows when we came here.", Liam realized. "With your water powers"

"Yeah, I guess"

* * *

Everyone was standing around a large round table, while Sadie was trying to decipher the scroll. They were in a different room now, not anymore in the hall. It was a huge room; the walls were covered with all kinds of maps and there were slim cupboards filled with worn out scrolls. The maps showed almost every age and every civilization. From a map during the Egyptian Age through the Indus River Colonialization to the map of the Great Roman Empire. Sadie had brought various stuff for her to help deciphering. Three scrolls, two cardboard inscription wheels and one notebook. She has been staring at the scroll Kate gave her since the past 20 minutes, without saying anything.

"Got anything yet?", Amy asked.

"This doesn't make sense", Sadie said. She pointed at the first symbol and said, "This means _sand_. And the one in the next column also means _sand_. Then the third one says _river_. From the fourth row until the last one, it is _sand_. And in the next two columns, it's the exact same thing. In the fourth and fifth column, the _river_ moves one slot down. This pattern goes until the tenth column, where the _river_ is at the bottom. But in the seventh column and the third row, this symbol means _here_. So, in words it would mean:

 _The desert is sandy after the river, the desert is sandy during the river, the desert is here, the desert is sandy before the river_

"That does not make any sense", Liam realized.

"Maybe it's a riddle?", Kate guessed.

"Or Sadie just sucks at deciphering Old Hieroglyphs", Amy exclaimed.

All eyes were on Amy.

"Woah, that was harsh", Liam said. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure", Amy said. Liam scented sarcasm. "It is a good life, when your mother was murdered"

"I thought you didn't mind Sadie, because you told me, you never actually knew your mother", Kate said. "After all, you were the one, who was most enthusiastic coming here!"

"Yeah, why the sudden mind change, Amy!?", Sky added.

Liam could sense a fight stirring.

"It's none of your business!", Amy exclaimed.

"Hey!", Sadie shouted. "Leave them alone. If you have a problem with me, then tell me straight in my face why!"

"Yeah I got a problem with you", Amy said. "You killed my god damn mother, just because of a fight with my parents"

"It wasn't just a fight-"

"Just answer me one thing, Amy", Kate said. "If you can't stand her, why did you even want to come?"

"Because I want to her to pay for what she did, Kate!", Amy shouted. "She killed my mother just because of a small fight with—"

"IT WAS NOT JUST A FIGHT!", Sadie shouted. "It was a murder. But I wasn't the murderer here.

My daughter was killed as an infant.

By none other than my own brother.

"

 **A/N - I bet you fell of the cliff you were hanging from.**


End file.
